1. Technical Field
This disclosure generally relates to gas turbine engines.
2. Description of the Related Art
A gas turbine engine typically incorporates a spool that mechanically interconnects rotating components of a turbine with rotating components of a corresponding compressor. In order to accommodate axial loads of the spool, one or more thrust bearings typically are provided. Unfortunately, mechanical failure of a spool forward of the thrust bearing can decouple the load provided by the fan and compressor from the turbine, thereby resulting in an overspeed of the turbine. Such an overspeed can be severe enough to cause turbine disks and blades to fail structurally. Specifically, structural failure of a turbine disk can cause the disk to break into multiple pieces and depart the engine by penetrating a casing that surrounds the turbine. In order to alleviate this concern, turbine disks and associated blades oftentimes are designed to accommodate such overspeed conditions resulting in the use of heavier, more robust components.